Unfolding Destiny

Shoghi Effendi

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful
throughout the East and West.
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Dear fellow-workers,

I desire to convey to you in a few words my impressions of the
recently published “Bahá’í World”, copies of which I understand,
have already, thanks to the assiduous care and indefatigable efforts
displayed by the Publishing Committee of the American National
Spiritual Assembly, been widely distributed among the Bahá’í
countries of East and West.

This unique record of world-wide Bahá’í activity attempts to present
to the general public, as well as to the student and scholar, those
historical facts and fundamental principles that constitute the
distinguishing features of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to this age. I
have ever since its inception taken a keen and sustained interest in its
development, have personally participated in the collection of its
material, the arrangement of its contents, and the close scrutiny of
whatever data it contains.

I confidently and emphatically recommend it to every thoughtful
and eager follower of the Faith, whether in the East or in the West,
whose desire is to place in the hands of the critical and intelligent
inquirer, of whatever class, creed or colour, a work that can truly
witness to the high purpose, the moving history, the enduring
achievements, the resistless march and infinite prospects of the
Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Eminently readable and attractive in its
features, reliable and authoritative in the material it contains, up-to-date,
comprehensive and accurate in the mass of information it gives,
concise and persuasive in its treatment of the fundamental aspects of
the Cause, thoroughly representative in the illustrations and
photographs it reveals—it stands unexcelled and unapproached by any
publication of its kind in the varied literature of our beloved Cause. It
will, without the slightest doubt, if generously and vigorously
supported, arouse unprecedented interest among all classes of civilised
society.

I earnestly request you, dearly-beloved friends, to exert the utmost
effort for the prompt and widespread circulation of a book that so
faithfully and vividly portrays, in all its essential features, its
far-reaching ramifications and most arresting aspects, the all-encompassing
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Whatever assistance, financial or moral, extended
by Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers, to those who
have been responsible for such a highly valuable and representative
production will, it should be remembered, be directly utilised to advance
the interests and reinforce the funds that are being raised in behalf of
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the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and will indirectly serve to exert a most
powerful stimulus in removing the malicious misrepresentations and
unfortunate misunderstandings that have so long and so grievously
clouded the luminous Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.